


Where He Comes From

by ILikeBrains



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, just an idea i had, not really a theory or headcanon, the show hasn't given a backstory so I made my own
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 19:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11296848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILikeBrains/pseuds/ILikeBrains
Summary: It's perfectly normal for kids to have imaginary friends...Unless your friend isn't actually imaginary...And is a giant robotic space catORI had feelings about Keith's family/early life, and how he was drawn out to the blue lion





	Where He Comes From

It starts when his parents walk in on Keith laughing to himself. He’s stretched out on the old rug, the soft one, lying in the patch of sunlight from the window like a cat.

His father smiles. “Something funny, little man?”

Keith turns to his parents and blinks owlishly, seeming to just notice them despite their casual approach. He sits up and grins, before toddling over as fast as his little legs can carry him. His mother scoops him up as he approaches, lifting him above her head and spinning around while he squeals in delight. His father steps back to avoid being hit by 30 pounds of swinging toddler.

It’s only as Keith is settling himself with his arms around his mother’s neck that he processes the question.

“Just somethin’ that Blue said”

His mother looks concerned, looking around over her son’s head as if expecting to find someone else there. His father just chuckles.

“ _Ah_ , that explains it.” He reaches over to ruffle Keith’s hair. “Can you tell Blue that we say hello?”

Keith frowns, brows furrowing in concentration. He looks up a moment later. “She says hi!”

His father smiles again, and then leans forward conspiratorially. “How ‘bout you go show Blue your new space book? I bet she’d love the pictures.”

Keith’s eyes light up, and he squirms until he’s set down. He darts forward to hug his father’s legs quickly and then runs off to his room.

His father chuckles again, but this time at the perplexed expression on his partner’s face.

“It’s normal for kids his age to have an imaginary friend. I remember I had one named Wally who I _insisted_ was the one stealing all the cookies.”

His father is relaxed. His mother is still a bit troubled, but having no reason to feel so, she brushes it off.

 

A child’s voice can be heard talking about the stars.

*****

Blue becomes a fairly common topic in the small house. Little things, dropped in conversation.

“It’s too hot out. Blue thinks so too.”

“I still think vegetables are gross, but Blue says I gotta eat ‘em to grow up big.”

“Blue says that song is pretty.”

A couple of weeks later, Keith is sitting in his father’s lap, watching his mother polish her blade. The room is quiet, until Keith ask a question.

“What’s a pal-a-din?”

His mother freezes suddenly, while his father angles himself to look at Keith.

“That’s a pretty big word for you. Where’d ya’ hear it?”

Keith shrugs. “Blue. She called me ‘little paladin’. But whats’ it _mean_?” Keith huffs impatiently, tugging on his father’s sleeve.

His father pries his fingers off, holding his son’s smaller hands in his own. “It’s like a knight, in your fairy tales.”

Keith seems satisfied with the answer, and snuggles himself back into his father’s lap. Later, as he’s dozing, his father speaks again.

“He must’ve heard it on TV or something.” He snorts. “Let’s hope he doesn’t take it to heart and decide that the world needs saving from the evil broccoli.”

His mother hums in acknowledgement.

She can’t push away the sense of dread in her stomach this time.

*****

It can’t be ignored anymore when they find him drawing.

Keith sits in the middle of the floor surrounded by crayons and paper, with his tongue peeking out of his mouth as he concentrates. His father crouches down to examine the artwork.

“Are these animals?”

Keith sighs dramatically as only a child can, and puts down his crayon to see what his father is looking at.

“They’re _lions_ , dad!”

“And the one in the middle has… wings?”

“ _Duh_ ”

His father nods solemnly, apologizing for his ignorance. He turns around to flash his partner an amused smile, and lifts up the drawing to show her.

She swears that her heart stops for a moment.

The drawing is messy and clearly drawn with a child’s hand, but what it’s depicting is immediately clear to her. There are five lions. Blue, red, black, green, and yellow.

She has told Keith many stories, but this is not one of them.

She comes closer, feeling almost as if she’s in a dream.

There are other pictures scattered around. More lions, but with attempts at details that would not be found on living creatures. People, in armor of colors matching the five lions. The one in red is marked “me”. The “e” is backwards.

A man with limbs of four colors, towering over even the mountains crudely drawn in the background. He holds something that might be a sword.

 _Probably_ is a sword.

She sits down heavily, and takes a deep breath to ground herself. She _knows_ what this is, but needs confirmation. She picks up the picture of the large man.

“What’s this?”

Keith looks happy to explain. “That’s Voltron! He protects the universe, and he’s made of the lions!”

Her partner is chuckling beside her, saying something about how creative their son is. She takes a shaky breath. She’s a trained warrior and spy, her composure shouldn’t be cracking this easily. Part of her still hopes she’s about to find out that she talks in her sleep or something like that.

“Who told you about Voltron?” Her partner shoots her an odd look, but her eyes are trained solely on her son.

“Blue did”.

She closes her eyes. That’s what she thought. Her eyes open again when she feels small hands on her face. She finds herself immediately staring into a pair of wide eyes, the same shape as her own, but with pupils, and irises that are almost the same color as her skin.

“Mommy… why are you crying?”

She blinks, lifting a hand to her cheek. _Oh_.

 _Deflect. Distract_. Her training and maternal instincts are on the same page. She tickles her son’s sides, hugging him close and blowing raspberries on his cheeks when he giggles and tries to squirm away. A cry for help amidst the laughter brings his father into the fray, and the whole family is soon huddled together and out of breath.

She places a kiss on Keith’s head, thinking back to the question. “Because I love you very much.”

A small “I love you too” accompanies further snuggling into her arms, and she can feel her heart breaking as she tightens her hold and buries her face in messy black hair.

*****

She explains after Keith has gone to sleep, drifting off with his favorite stuffed animal in his arms and his favorite bedtime story in his ears.

She explains what Voltron is, and the part it has played both in history and in the war that eventually led to her crashing on Earth. She explains what this means for Keith.

She explains what this means for them.

“I have to go back. If the blue lion is here, then the empire will eventually show up to find it.” She glances at the closed door that her sleeping son is behind. “The Blade doesn’t know that it’s here, they can’t do anything to stop it. I need to warn them, throw Zarkon off the trail, _something_.” She slumps abruptly, staring at the night sky out the window. “I have to protect him for as long as I can.”

There’s arguing, tears, bargaining, _pleading_. But her mind is made up, and both adults understand what needs to be done.

Dejected, her partner asks when she will leave. She looks at the door again, heart clenching.

“Soon” she says, “but not yet.”

*****

Keith knows something is wrong, he’s always been a perceptive child. But he’s plied with hugs and treats and cuddles, and so is relatively unbothered.

She looks across the room to where he sits with his father, attempting to write his own name. She thinks about how young he is, and wonders if he will remember her. The likely answer hurts more than a shot from a sentry. She realizes that he won’t even have any pictures, as they had decided that it was too dangerous for her to be photographed on Earth.

She is desperately grateful for the small photo that she has already tucked away in her ship of her two boys.

*****

She leaves at night. If Keith noticed that her hug goodnight lasted longer than usual, or that she was oddly choked up saying how much she loved him, he didn’t comment on it.

Her goodbye with her partner is brief but heartfelt. He is outside to see her off. Before they part, she pulls out her blade, shifting it into dagger form. She holds it out to him.

“Give this to Keith when he’s old enough. Tell him where he comes from, where I come from. Tell him how loved he is, and that I will _always_ be with him.” Their hands meet on the knife. His eyes are glazed with tears, and she’s sure that hers are as well. They both know the chances of meeting again in this life.

She forcibly composes herself, and withdraws her hand. It’s time. They’ve gotten through the lingering looks and touches, and if she waits until she feels ready then she won’t ever leave.

She turns and begins walking to her ship, hidden a safe distance away. She looks back, just once, as she’s climbing in. She can just barely see the little house in the desert, further than human eyes could see. She wonders if Keith would be able to see her, were he awake.

Sitting in the pilot’s seat, initializing the launch, she thinks of the blue lion. She closes her eyes. _If you can hear me, please, keep him safe_.

As she leaves the planet’s atmosphere, she swears she can feel an affirming purr in her mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been really interested lately in Keith's backstory, and his family. He doesn't seem to remember his mother, so she's obviously been gone for quite some time. But I like to think that Keith's parents loved him a lot, and wouldn't just leave without a really good reason (I assume that his dad died later but while he was still a kid).
> 
> Besides thinking about Keith's whole "sensing energy" thing, I remembered that in the first episode the blue lion communicated with all the paladins, if only briefly.
> 
> Ok, that's it for now. I should've gone to bed hours ago, but I was writing this instead. Comments would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Edit: I forgot to say, my tumblr is http://marimbistchick.tumblr.com/ if anyone ever wants to talk about voltron with me


End file.
